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Coyotes-Wolves-Cougars.blogspot.com

Grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, coyotes, cougars/ mountain lions,bobcats, wolverines, lynx, foxes, fishers and martens are the suite of carnivores that originally inhabited North America after the Pleistocene extinctions.
This site invites research, commentary, point/counterpoint on that suite of native animals (predator and prey) that inhabited The Americas circa 1500-at the initial point of European exploration and subsequent colonization.
Landscape ecology, journal accounts of explorers and frontiersmen, genetic evaluations of museum animals, peer reviewed 20th and 21st century research on various aspects of our "Wild America" as well as subjective commentary from expert and layman alike. All of the above being revealed and discussed with the underlying goal of one day seeing our Continent rewilded.....Where big enough swaths of open space exist with connective corridors to other large forest, meadow, mountain, valley, prairie, desert and chaparral wildlands.....Thereby enabling all of our historic fauna, including man, to live in a sustainable and healthy environment. - Blogger Rick

Wild lynx to return to Britain

after 1,300 years

In one of the most ambitious 'rewilding' projects

ever to take place in

the UK, the large deer-eating felines could be

introduced to three

unfenced estates later this year

Known as the Keeper of Secrets, the elusive
forest-dwelling creature has been extinct in Britain
for over 1,300 years.

But now the wild lynx could roam the woods of England
and Scotland once again, as part of the most ambitious
“rewilding” project ever attempted in the UK.

If the Lynx UK Trust’s scheme is approved, the large cats,
which prey on deer as well as rabbit and hare, will be
released onto three privately owned, unfenced estates in
Norfolk, Cumbria and Aberdeenshire.

“The lynx is one of the most enigmatic, beautiful cats on the
planet,” Dr Paul O’Donoghue, a scientific adviser to the trust
said. “The British countryside is dying and lynx will bring it
back to life.”

The Eurasian lynx is the largest lynx species, with powerful
long legs, with large webbed and furred paws. Due to its
solitary and secretive nature, lynx does not present a threat
to humans.

The trust has launched a public consultation to determine
public reaction to the plan, after which it will lodge a forma
l application with Natural England and Scottish Natural
Heritage (SNH), the government agencies that license
such releases.

If the plan is given the green light, four to six Eurasian
lynx wearing GPS tracking collars would be released
later this year at each of the sites, all of which are rich
in deer and tree cover.

One of the chosen sites is near Norfolk’s Thetford Forest,
one of England’s largest and wildest woodlands and the
other is in Ennerdale, a remote Lake District valley.

In Germany, 14 lynx were reintroduced to a site in the Harz mountains in 2000

Lynx could help control Britain’s population of more than
one million wild deer, which lack natural predators. Deer
damage woodland by overgrazing and eat the eggs of
birds that nest on the ground or in low bushes.

Peter Watson of the Deer Initiative which campaigns for
the controlling deer in a sustainable way, welcomed the
experimental reintroduction of lynx, saying that introducing
lynx could help solve this problem.

Tony Marmont, a businessman who owns Grumack Forest,
near Huntly in Aberdeenshire, told the Sunday Times that
lynx will have an “extremely beneficial effect” on forest
ecosystems. He added that lynx would serve as
“ambassadors for wider conservation projects”.

However, not everyone is as enthusiastic, as the economic
impact of reintroducing large predators remains controversial.

Previous reintroduction plans have been opposed and
sometimes blocked by farmers arguing that creatures
such as lynx and birds of prey attack livestock and gamebirds.

The reintroduction of lynx may raise fears of attacks on
sheep, although these are rare in areas such as Romania
and Poland, where lynx live naturally and a subsidy
programme would be set up for farmers.

The economic impact of reintroducing large predators remains controversial

The National Farmers’ Union is sceptical, with a spokesman
for the organisation saying: “We would be concerned about
the reintroduction due to its high cost and failure risk. We
believe budgets are better focused on developing existing
biodiversity.”

In Germany, 14 lynx were reintroduced to a site in the Harz
mountains in 2000 and have since bred and colonised other
areas. Another reintroduction, in Switzerland in the 1990s,
has also seen animals breed and spread.

Ron Macdonald, SNH’s policy director, said: “There are
pluses and minuses to reintroducing any species. Lynx
could help reduce deer numbers in Scottish woodlands but
some land-use organisations have concerns about the
impact of a reintroduction on livestock.
”

Two Massachusetts Eastern Coyotes at their den site

Eastern Wolf in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

Aldo Leopold--3 quotes from his SAN COUNTY ALMANAC

"We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect."

Aldo Leopold

"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."

Aldo Leopold

''To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering."

Wildlife Rendezvous

Like so many conscientious hunters and anglers come to realize, good habitat with our full suite of predators and prey make for healthy and productive living............Teddy Roosevelt depicted at a "WILDLIFE RENDEZVOUS"

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Blog Disclaimer

This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer. In addition, my thoughts and opinions change from time to time…I consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind. This blog is intended to provide a semi-permanent point in time snapshot and manifestation of my various thoughts and opinions, and as such any thoughts and opinions expressed within out-of-date posts may not be the same, nor even similar, to those I may hold today. All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. Rick Meril and WWW.COYOTES-WOLVES-COUGARS.COM make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.